The real estate investment trust, an affiliate of Irving, Texas-based Cobalt Capital Partners LP, acquired the 382,500-square-foot site in late 2008, though a quitclaim deed transferring the properties from the Memphis and Shelby County Industrial Development Board didn’t occur until the following June.

The Shelby County Assessor of Property lists 4436 Malone as a 13.4-acre site with a 232,500-square-foot Class B warehouse built in 1979 and a 2014 appraisal of $3.4 million. The 8.2-acre parcel at 4366 Malone contains a 150,000-square-foot Class B warehouse built in 1979 and has a 2014 appraisal of $2.5 million.

The Assessor’s website does not list any information for 4406 Malone. However, it does state Cobalt owns the 2.1-acre vacant parcel at 4260 Malone.

Lewis D. Friedland signed the trust deed as president of Cobalt Industrial REIT II.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Kroger Launches Wine Sales Petition

Kroger Delta Division is launching petition drives in more than 35 of its Shelby County stores to put a referendum on the Nov. 4 ballot to permit wine sales in local supermarkets.

The petition drive seeking the signatures of registered voters will be July 10-12 and July 17-19.

In order for the question to get on the November ballot, the number of valid signatures must equal at least 10 percent of the total votes cast locally in the last general election for Tennessee governor.

The certified election results from the November 2010 general election show 229,536 Shelby County citizens voted in the race for governor.

The petitions must be at the Shelby County Election Commission by Aug. 21.

The Delta Division will also hold petition drives the next two weekends at its stores in Jackson, Paris, Savannah, Dyersburg and Covington, Tenn.

– Bill Dries

University of Tennessee Health Science Center to Operate Forensic Center

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center has been awarded a $3.1 million contract to operate the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center and the Shelby County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Under the contract, which was approved in June by the Shelby County Commission and went into effect July 1, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center will provide a range of services. They include staffing and management of the center, including forensic pathologists, forensic technicians, support staff, and a physician eligible for appointment as the Shelby County medical examiner; consultation services for all reported cases; establishment and operation of a forensic pathology fellowship program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education; and continued accreditation of the medical examiner’s office by the National Association of Medical Examiners.

The one-year contract with UTHSC was awarded through a request for proposal process. The contract contains an option to renew for three additional one-year periods. UTHSC ran regional forensic services for years before ceasing in 2006.

The center will oversee medico-legal death investigation services for all 20 counties west of the Tennessee River that send autopsies to the facility. The West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center is located at 637 Poplar Ave. in a $10 million facility that opened in June 2012.

– Don Wade

Redbirds’ Piscotty Named to All-Star Team

Memphis Redbirds outfielder Stephen Piscotty has been named to the Pacific Coast League All-Star team and will represent the Redbirds on the 30-man squad that takes on the International League stars in the 2014 Triple-A All-Star Game July 16 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C.

Piscotty – who was chosen as a reserve outfielder for the contest by the PCL office – was at the time of his selection batting .306 (93-for-304) with five home runs, 24 doubles, 45 RBIs, and eight stolen bases in a team-leading 81 games.

Piscotty, 23, ranked second in the PCL in doubles, ninth in hits (93), tied for ninth in games played, and 11th in at-bats (304). He also had a team-leading 29 multi-hit games and was batting .366 (30-for-82) with runners in scoring position.

Entering the 2014 season, Baseball America recognized Piscotty as the Cardinals’ No. 4 prospect and as having the organization’s “Best Outfield Arm.”

– Don Wade

Shelby Farms Park Launches Free App

Shelby Farms Park Conservancy has launched a free app to help visitors engage with the park.

The app gives visitors quick access to park information, including construction updates for Heart of the Park enhancements. It’s available to download now in Apple’s App Store and Android’s Google Play store.

Among its features, users can use the app to view all park attractions at a glance, navigate the park with a dynamic map featuring clickable pins, read about diverse tree species in the arboretum and get to know the trails with new information on shade, distance and difficulty.

– Andy Meek

Houtz to Lead Tigers’ Ticket Operations

Derek Houtz has been named the assistant athletic director for ticket operations and sales at the University of Memphis. Houtz’s responsibilities expanded during more than five years working in the athletic ticket office at the University of Southern Mississippi

Houtz will have responsibility for directing all ticketing operations within the University of Memphis Athletic Department. In addition to developing and monitoring ticketing policies and procedures, he will coordinate strategies to build the department’s ticket customer base and lead the department’s internal sales team.

Under Houtz’s guidance, Memphis will be utilizing several new tools through its ticketing partner, Paciolan. In addition, he will lead the department’s efforts in retargeting, alumni outreach and group sales through the cultivation of corporate entities, community groups and other organizations.

Houtz joins the Memphis staff from Southern Miss, where he has worked since November 2008. He began his career at USM as assistant ticket manager. He was elevated to ticket manager in December 2010 and promoted to assistant athletic director for ticket operations in November 2012.

In his final role at Southern Miss, Houtz was responsible for operations, sales and budget plans for the university’s central ticket office. He established new ticket options to drive revenue from non-season ticket customers and also initiated the office’s integration with StubHub’s ticket marketplace.

– Don Wade

IMF Chief Hints at Slower Economic Growth

The chief of the International Monetary Fund predicts that the global economy will improve over the next 18 months but says that growth might not be as fast as previously expected.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde says that investment remains weak and that the recovery in the United States hinges on the ability of the Federal Reserve to gradually reduce stimulus measures and on political leaders agreeing on a fiscal plan.

Lagarde made the comments Sunday at a conference in France. The IMF is expected to refresh its economic forecasts this month. In April, it predicted global growth of 3.6 percent this year and 3.9 percent in 2015, up from 3 percent last year.

Growth was unexpectedly weak earlier this year but should gain momentum in the second half of 2014 and pick up more in 2015, Lagarde said. Still, she said, the recovery in advanced countries remains tepid, and developing countries won't grow as fast as had been expected.

"Global activity is strengthening but could be weaker than we had expected, as potential growth is lower, and investment remains depressed," she said.